A liquid absorbing body according to the present invention contains amorphous carbon and crystalline carbon particles dispersed in the amorphous carbon; the content of the crystalline carbon particles is from 60% by mass to 90% by mass based on the total mass of the amorphous carbon and the crystalline carbon particles; the degree of orientation as determined by a wide-angle X-ray scattering method is 75% or more; and the open porosity as determined in accordance with JIS R 1634 (1998) is 10% or more.

An aluminum nitride plate satisfies a “c1>97.5%”, a “c2>97.0%”, a “w1<2.5 degrees”, and a “w1/w2<0.995” where c1 is a c-plane degree of orientation that is defined as a ratio of a diffraction intensity of (002) plane when a surface layer of the aluminum nitride plate is subjected to an X-ray diffraction measurement, and c2 is a c-plane degree of orientation that is defined as a ratio of the diffraction intensity of (002) plane when a portion other than the surface layer of the aluminum nitride plate is subjected to the X-ray diffraction measurement, wherein w1 is a half-value width in an X-ray rocking curve profile of (102) plane of the surface layer and w2 is a half-value width in the X-ray rocking curve profile of (102) plane of the portion other than the surface layer.

Embodiments disclosed herein include potassium sodium niobate (KNN) films and methods of making such films. In an embodiment, a method of forming a potassium sodium niobate (KNN) film comprises preparing a solution comprising water, potassium hexaniobate salts, and sodium hexaniobate salts. In an embodiment, the solution is spin coated onto a substrate to form a film on at least a portion of a surface of the substrate. In an embodiment, the method may further comprise heat treating the film.

A product according to one embodiment includes a first layer having a first composition, a first microstructure, and a first density; and a second layer above the first layer, the second layer having: a second composition, a second microstructure, and/or a second density. A gradient in composition, microstructure, and/or density exists between the first layer and the second layer, and either or both of the first layer and the second layer comprise non-spherical particles aligned along a longitudinal axis thereof.

A lead-free KNN-based piezoelectric material represented by the composition formula (K.sub.aNa.sub.bLi.sub.c)(Nb.sub.dTa.sub.eSb.sub.f)O.sub.g, where 0.4≤a≤0.5, 0.5≤b≤0.6, 0.01≤c≤0.1, 0.5≤d≤1.0, 0.05≤e≤0.15, 0.01≤f≤0.09, 1≤g≤3. In one embodiment, the lead-free KNN-based piezoelectric material has a d.sub.33>300 pm/V and a T.sub.curie>250° C. In one embodiment, the d.sub.33 and T.sub.curie of the lead-free textured KNN-based piezoelectric material can be adjusted by creating phase boundaries of (i) orthorhombic to tetragonal (O-T), (ii) rhombohedral to orthorhombic (R-O), and (iii) orthorhombic to tetragonal (O-T). In one embodiment, the lead-free KNN-based piezoelectric material is textured with NaNbO.sub.3 or Ba.sub.2NaNb.sub.5O.sub.15 seeds which are platelet or acicular shaped. In one embodiment, the amount, orientation, or particle size distribution of the NaNbO.sub.3 or Ba.sub.2NaNb.sub.5O.sub.15 texturing seeds in the lead-free textured KNN-based piezoelectric material can be altered.

A lithium composite oxide sintered body plate includes a porous structure in which a plurality of primary particles of a lithium composite oxide having a layered rock-salt structure are bonded is included, in which a porosity is 15 to 50%, a ratio of the primary particles whose average inclination angle being an average value of angles between a (003) plane of the plurality of primary particles and a plate surface of the sintered body plate is more than 0° and 30° or less is 60% or more, one or more additive elements selected from Nb, Ti, W are contained, and an addition amount of the one or more additive elements to an entire of the sintered body plate is 0.01 wt % or more and 2.0 wt % or less.

The present invention is directed to battery technologies and processing techniques thereof. In various embodiments, ceramic electrolyte powder material (or component thereof) is mixed with two or more flux to form a fluxed powder material. The fluxed powder material is shaped and heated again at a temperature less than 1100° C. to form a dense lithium conducting material. There are other variations and embodiments as well.

The present invention relates to the field of MAX-phase ceramic-based composites, specifically to a short-fiber-reinforced oriented MAX-phase ceramic-based composite and a preparation method therefor. By using a new process with a fiber, a nano lamellar MAX-phase ceramic powder, other additives, etc., for preparing a fiber-reinforced MAX-phase ceramic-based composite, a novel ternary composite is prepared, wherein a matrix is composed of a highly oriented lamellar MAX-phase ceramic, the fiber is distributed parallel to the lamellar MAX-phase ceramic in an axial direction, and a granulate ceramic phase enhancement phase is dispersed in the matrix. Thus, the problems of a MAX-phase ceramic-based composite matrix material prepared by an existing method, such as coarse grains, multiple internal defects and a low strength, and a poor fracture toughness; and a reaction sintering temperature being too high such that fibers are chemically and physically damaged in a substrate, resulting in performance degradation, are solved. Fibers prepared by the method are suitable for large-scale industrial preparation and have properties that are far superior to those of any existing known fiber MAX-phase composite.

A method for producing a solid composition according to the present disclosure includes producing an oxide to be converted into a first functional ceramic by reacting with an oxoacid compound, and mixing the oxide, the oxoacid compound, and a second functional ceramic that is different from the first functional ceramic. The oxoacid compound preferably contains at least one of a nitrate ion and a sulfate ion as an oxoanion.

A highly oriented nanometer MAX phase ceramic and a preparation method for a MAX phase in-situ autogenous oxide nanocomposite ceramic. The raw materials comprise a MAX phase ceramic nano-lamellar powder body or a blank body formed by the nano-lamellar powder body, wherein MAX phase ceramic nano-lamellar particles in the powder body or the blank meet the particle size being between 20-400 nm, and the oxygen content is between 0.0001%-20% by mass; MAX phase grains in the ceramic obtained after the raw materials are sintered are lamellar or spindle-shaped, the lamellar structure having a high degree of orientation. Utilizing special properties of the nano-lamellar MAX powder body, orientation occurs during compression and deformation to obtain a lamellar structure similar to that in a natural pearl shell, and such a structure has a high bearing capacity and resistance to external loads and crack propagation, just like a brick used in a building.